Mermaid's Lullaby
by MarinaDreyar
Summary: Work In Progress
1. Things Fall Apart

Chapter One: Things Fall Apart

A crowd had gathered outside the door of the master's office, all patiently awaiting his verdict and hoping it wasn't as harsh as they expected. Just beyond the door, Jose loomed over a smaller blue haired woman.

Ocean, the woman in question, was being accused of the crime deemed most heinous to the master of Phantom Lord; weakness. The sea dragon slayer had found herself in a brawl with a member from the guild's bitter rival; Fairy Tail, and lost. When word of the defeat got back to the guild, Jose was less than enthused.

"A Fairy." The master's voice sounded in an angry growl. "You lost a fight to a Fairy! How does that happen? Are you not supposedly one of this guild's S-Class mages? One of the strongest here?"

Ocean knew better than to respond. She stayed silent, eyes glued to the floor beneath her feet that felt as if it may fall away at any minute now.

"Get out." This grabbed her attention. She raised her head to look at him, clearly panicked. "Pack your things and don't ever let me see your pathetic self here ever again!"

She trembled. "But..." Being the only word she was able to vocalize. She wanted to cry, to beg him to change his mind, but quickly came to the realization that any attempt to do so would only be in vain. Ocean nodded and left the office, pushing past the crowd that called questions after her. They already knew the answer.

It was over. The walls began to crumble around her. She started to jog, then sprint, desperately trying to outrun the burning grief rising through her chest and into her throat and threatening to sound out in a scream. It was happening all over again. Losing her home, losing what little dysfunctional bit of family she had. Where were the girls? She had to get them out, had to save them again.

"No." The word slapped her in the face, bringing her partially back to the present. She hadn't even realized she'd made it all the way back to her apartment already.

"What?" She asked, needing to be caught up in the conversation.

"No." The word was repeated. Ocean blinked, looking down at the girl speaking. Gabby. The youngest daughter of the Stine family, the ones that took her in after Rayne disappeared, the girl rendered blind after the attack on the village that left both parents dead and an older brother still missing, one of the two girls Ocean had sworn to always be there for and protect, spoke again. "We aren't going with you."

The other girl in the room, Ellie, stepped forward and placed a hand on her younger twin's shoulder. "This is our home. For years now. We can't just leave."

"Oh." Ocean responded, taken aback. The smell of smoke disappeared from her mind and she became fully aware of where she was again. There was no fire. Just the cold acceptance of her fate. She nodded.

It didn't take long for Ocean to pack her few belongings she owned. She walked past the twins in silence. No exchange in goodbyes, no hugs, no tears. Nothing.

By the door, the master and several guild mates had gathered. Some shouted protests, quickly silenced by Jose's cold glare, others silently watched as the girl that had acted as an older sister, a friend, or a mother to them set off on a new journey alone.

Three faces stood at the front and caught Ocean's attention. The first was Gajeel; he'd been Ocean's closest friend since she and the girls has met him in the woods before they all joined the guild together. It was only natural when the two decided to take the next step and become more than that when with were seventeen. This day meant the end of that.

"You could come me with me." She said to him, an almost silent plea. "We could make it somewhere new, together." This was responded to by him looking away from her, shunning her. Ocean smiled to force back her tears. "Keep them safe for me."

The second face belonged to Lydia; a girl just a few months younger than Ocean but had seen her as the closest thing to a mother she had. After the tragic deaths of her family, which she chose not to talk about, Lydia considered Ocean to be the only family she had; other than the demons she tamed. She had a bag on her shoulder and a smile on her face. Ocean smiled back. At least neither of them would be alone now.

Finally, standing silent and still, was Morganna. As children the two girls had been part of the same team, along with Lydia, Gajeel and a few others. Morganna had made a promise to the two girls to always watch their backs, and this was one promise she intended to keep. Preferring not to keep too many things anyway, she was empty handed.

The three of them waved to their former guild mates and headed off together in search of a new place to call home. After not too long of searching; they ended up in the place they least expected, Fairy Tail.


	2. Defending Honor

Chapter Two: Defending Honor

The first few months in the new guild were mostly quiet (about as quiet as Fairy Tail ever gets.) The trio took some jobs together here and there and when they weren't working they found other things to keep themselves busy.

Lydia had become especially popular with the men of the guild due to a particular talent of hers; exotic dancing. Every weekend she was drawing in a bigger crowd to the bar down the street; affectionately nicknamed Hell's Palace due to all the dancers there being called demons as stage names. On stage, Lydia took on the persona of Lilith; the alluring woman who quickly became the bar's main attraction.

Morganna, on the other hand, was much less sociable with her guild mates, though she'd never been much for conversation anyway. In the times spent not taking jobs with her friends, Mor was usually out doing independent mage's work. She never told either of them about the jobs she took and both seemed to know it was better not to ask.

Ocean took to the new environment almost instantly. The caring and family centered nature of Fairy Tail gave her the feeling that she finally had a real home. She never turned down the opportunity for a brawl and found herself putting Natsu and Gray, especially, in their places nearly as much as Erza herself. The Sea Dragon Slayer and the Requip mage became fast friends, bonding over similar childhood traumas. She got along quite well with Cana; the guild's resident alcoholic, and Mirajane; the sweet and soft-spoken barmaid too. For Ocean, Fairy Tail was a dream come true. It wouldn't be until another few weeks later when she'd find out not everyone in the guild shared the same opinion.

Immediately noticing the approach of four unfamiliar scents, Ocean stared at the hall's front door; threat assessment, as she called it. The door swung open and the first of the group entered. She was a brunette woman with small rectangular glassed perched on the bridge of her nose. She stood just a few inches taller than Ocean's 5'3 self and wore a short, skin-tight, green dress that barely covered her assets. One of the first things she noticed about this woman was that despite wearing the guild's emblem, the other members made a point to look away from her, avoiding eye contact at all cost. The second was a taller man. A helmet covered most of his face, only exposing his wide grin, and a quartet of wooden dolls followed. Ocean found this man curious, but made note of the apparent discomfort of her guildmates. Thirdly, was a man with long green hair falling down the length of his back. He walked with a certain grace in his step and his hand fixated to the hilt of the sword on his hip. Though he appeared to be the least threatening of the group, the magic energy radiating off of him told Ocean otherwise. The three of them stood close to the door, waiting for the final member of their team to enter.

Ocean noticed the hairs on her arms stand up as the air was filled with static electricity. A lightning mage, she determined. The man was tall, at least a foot taller than her, and his blonde hair was spiked up as if he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. Probably the most noticeable of his features though, was the lightning bolt scar going through his right eye. Ocean recognized this man as Laxus, the grandson of Master Makarov and the apparent heir of Fairy Tail.

He looked over, his eyes landing on her, and she quickly looked away in hopes he hadn't seen her staring. Heavy footsteps drawing closer, unfortunately, showed this to be wrong. A pair of hands found the table across from her.

"Where have I seen you before?" He asked. She looked up and shrugged in response. "Ah, that's right. You're the one Phantom kicked after Cana kicked your ass. Pretty pathetic for a Dragon slayer to lose to a holder mage."

Ocean's face was calm, but the grip on the mug in hand told another story. "Yeah, well you cant win every brawl. You'll never improve if you don't fail every once in awhile."

"Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. Enjoy your time here while you can. When I take this place over, you and your friends will be the first to go." The mug shattered to pieces, cutting Ocean's hand. Laxus smirked, having achieved the desired reaction.

It took less than a minute for Ocean's fist to meet Laxus's face with, surprisingly to him, enough force to knock him on his ass. Her blood boiled. No way would she let this pompous jerk threaten to take away this place that had so quickly become home to her. The cuts on her hand dripped, but she didn't seem to notice much.

The green haired man stepped forward and moved to draw his sword, but Laxus raised a hand, signalling his team to stand back and let him handle this. He stood and dusted himself off. "Dumb move." he responded, throwing a retaliatory punch only for her to catch it.

She shoved him back. The two took turns throwing, dodging and taking punches, neither gaining much ground on the other. In their usual fashion, the guild gathered around the brawl; most members impressed that the new girl could keep up with Laxus.

They continued on until both were nearly breathless. Ocean threw one final punch, connecting it to Laxus's jaw. He fell back and stayed on the ground this time, panting.

"Make an excuse for that." Ocean breathed before walking away. She returned to her seat and ordered another drink from Mira.


End file.
